Argon in Bottles

earl · Dec 22, 2005

I've just finished John Iverson's book, "Home Winemaking Step by Step." He is a big proponent of putting Argon in bottles before bottling. I also read in a magazine that some folks put a string in the bottle before they cork it, then after corking they pull the string out. This supposedly will allow the excess pressure to escape.

Does anyone do these things. I am hopefully about 20-25 days from bottling my first kit and am trying to get ideas for a good result.

Thanks

earl

masta · Dec 22, 2005

earl said:
Does anyone do these things. I am hopefully about 20-25 days from bottling my first kit and am trying to get ideas for a good result.

No I don't believe many home wine makers do this nor do i think it is necessary. Proper cleaning and sanitation of your bottles, filling so you have no more than 1 inch ofhead space between the wine and a good quality cork is all you need.

PolishWineP · Dec 23, 2005

I've read those things too and it sounds like far more hassle and potential trouble than they're worth. I can see loads of extra work here. Bottling, especially the first time, is enough. If you follow standard practices you should get good results.

I read about stuff like that and just think that some people have too much time on their hands even thinking those things up in the first place.

Bottle on and let us know how it goes and how the wine tastes!

MedPretzel · Dec 23, 2005

I like that saying, PWP...

Bottle on!!

rshosted · Dec 25, 2005

I would agree, I've used Argon and didn't notice any difference. I think it's not worth the time or money.

As for a string in the bottle? It's not necessary if you make sure your wine is degassed and you use the right amount of headspace.

One time, I got too eager and bottled ASAP and didn't bother to 'degass' my wine. I spend the next two days pushing corks into my bottles... Not the best way to spend one's time.

One side note, if you have a bottle you open and don't finish you can add a 'squirt' of Argon and rebottle to finish days later without much problem... (note, I fixed the half empty bottle problem, by drinking more: it works much better).